HalindaGreen - Literacy in the kitchen garden

Book list from SAKG
Gardens lend themselves to stories, and so does food. There are many traditional and modern stories about food: from magical foods and traditional tales, to stories about families, cultures and the foods we eat and share with our friends (human or not). Pick a shady, peaceful spot in your school garden and explore some of these stories.

Allen, Pamela 2002, The Potato People, Penguin Books Australia, Camberwell. A fun way to start thinking about cycles of life, decay, seed sprouting and regeneration.
Archer, Robyn and Victoria Roberts 1983, Mrs Bottle Burps, Thomas Nelson, Melbourne. Mrs Bottle grows her own food and enjoys a fantastic feast – but finds her tummy needs a burp to settle and she just can’t do it ...
Baker, Jeannie 1995, The Story of Rosie Dock, Random House, Milsons Point. Explore seeds and settlement, landscape change and introduced species in Australia.
Base, Graeme 2001, The Waterhole, Penguin Books Australia, Melbourne. Water as a necessity of life, cycles, drought, environments and endangered species.
Base, Graeme 2006, Uno’s Garden, Penguin Books Australia, Melbourne. Uno finds a beautiful garden and decides to stay. This award-winning tale of conservation awareness (with number games and maths) is ideal for any kitchen garden.
Bogacki, Tomek 2000, My First Garden, Francis Foster Books, New York. Families and generations, cycles of time and seasons, growth in spite of adversity.
Carle, Eric 1969, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Hamish Hamilton, London. This classic is perfect to help spark investigations into pests and beneficial insects, insect evidence in our garden, metamorphosis and life cycles of insects.
Creech, Sharon 2003, Granny Torelli Makes Soup, HarperCollins, New York. Food and friendship mingle in a story about generations and forgiveness. Includes ‘secret’ recipes.
Hollyer, Beatrice 2004, Let’s Eat: What Children Eat from Around the World, Henry Holt, New York. Explores the relationship between food and family for five children, from Mexico, India, Thailand, South Africa and France. Includes recipes.
Hucke, Johannes and Daniel Muller 2009, Pip in the Grand Hotel, North-South Books, New York. An exciting chase through an old-style European hotel – with great drawings of large kitchens and pantries.
Hughes, Shirley 1996, Enchantment in the Garden, Random House, London. Touches on themes of dreams, myths of nature and spirits of place, Italy and traces of Roman culture, Roman deities and history.
Hutts Aston, Diana, illustrations by Sylvia Long 2007 A Seed is Sleepy, Chronicle Books, San Francisco. What happens when a seed goes to sleep and why do seeds need periods of dormancy? This tale links to the cycles of life we see in the seasons in the garden.
Inkpen, Mick 2009, In Wibbly's Garden, Hodder Books, London. An adventure set in a garden, reminiscent of Jack and the Beanstalk.
Kleven, Elisa 2001, Sun Bread, Dutton, Penguin Group, USA. A baker brightens winter with his huge, round sun bread – and even convinces the real sun to come out of hiding. A good read when students are learning how to make yeast breads.
Lucas, Diane and Ken Searle 2003, Walking with the Seasons in Kakadu, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest NSW. A journey through the Indigenous seasons and discovery of seasonal foods in Kakadu.
McKenna Siddels, Mary, illustrations by Ashley Wolff 2010, Compost Stew: An A-Z recipe for the earth, Tricycle Press, New York. What goes into compost and how do we feed the earth? Includes a recipe for compost with information about each ingredient.
Mollel, Tololwa and Paul Morin 1990, The Orphan Boy, Oxford Univeristy Press, Oxford. An African tale about a young shepherd and a mystical land where there is no drought.
Muth, John J. 2005, Zen Shorts, Scholastic Press, New York. A large panda arrives; explores patience, quietude in nature and ethics.
Pederson, Janet 2005, Pino and the Signora’s Pasta, Candlewick Press, United States. A stray cat, Pino, learns that the food he is given is served with love. Exploring Rome, this book includes some Italian vocabulary, images of art and architecture and Italian life.
Racanelli, Maria 2010, Underground Animals, PowerKids Press, Rosen Publishing, New York. From burrowers to cave-dwellers, a whole secret world will be uncovered. Earthworms, moles, ants, badgers, desert tortoises and more are all waiting to give readers a tour of their earthy homes.
Rosa-Casanova, Sylvia, illustrations by Robert Roth 1997, Mama Provi and the Pot of Rice, Aladdin Paperbacks, United States. Set in Puerto Rico, Grandma Provi is takes her famous arroz con pollo to her granddaughter and enjoys a culinary journey on the way.
Ross, Bianca C, illustrated by Tabitha Emma Bray 2014, Herbert Peabody and his Extraordinary Vegetable Patch, Farinet, Australia. Herbert’s big vegetable patch can entice anyone to see the magic of growing things – and perhaps even save the local bakery, too.
Ross, Tony 1987, Stone Soup, Picture Lions, London. Wily chicken convinces hungry wolf to try her special soup. (See also, Wombat Stew by Marcia Vaughan, illus. Pamela Lofts.)
Say, Allen 1974, Under the Cherry Blossom Tree, Houghton Mifflin, New York. A cherry stone falls into the landlord’s head, and a tree grows ... Themes include Chinese myths and traditional tales, germination and positive change.
Sendak, Maurice 1970, In the Night Kitchen, HarperCollins, New York. A dream fantasy of surreal proportions: Mickey nearly gets baked into the morning cake.
Seuss, Dr. 1971, The Lorax, Random House, New York. This is a classic. Rhyming poetry, green themes – give it a try with your students.
Sierra, Judy and Edward Koren 2006, Thelonius Monster’s Sky-High Fly Pie, Random House, New York. Themes include taste, sharing food with your friends and being a good host.
Svendsen, Mark and Ben Redlich 2007, Whacko the Chook, Lothian, Melbourne. If your school has chooks, try this story about a chicken looking for a friend.
Waddell, Martin and Patrick Benson 1992, Owl Babies, Walker Books, London. Some themes to think about: gardens at night, birds and owls, nests and learning to fly.
Wallace, Karen and John Berkeley 1999, Scarlette Bean, Oxford University Press, Oxford. Magic in the garden as germination becomes gigantic!
White, Linda and Megan Lloyd 1996, Too Many Pumpkins, Holiday House, New York. Some themes to think about: scarcity and surplus.
Wilson, Tony and Knoble, Julie 2006 new ed 2013, The Thirsty Flowers, Hardie Grant, Melbourne. During the drought, flowers will flop – this is a tale of courage and friendship in hard times.
Yolen, Jane and Stemple, Heidi E., illustrations by Philippe Beha 2006, Fairy Tale Feasts: a Literary Cookbook for Young Readers and Eaters,Crocodile Books, Massachusets. Jane Yolen is a master at retelling familiar fairy tales for modern kids. Here, each story is paired with a recipe – lots of additional information about ingredients, stories and the origins of folklore.
Zamorano, Ana and Julie Vivas 2004, Let’s Eat!, Scholastic Australia. Visit a Spanish family, see a variety of Spanish traditional dishes and learn some Spanish vocabulary